Regularity Theory For Mean Curvature Flow

This work is devoted to the motion of surfaces for which the normal velocity at every point is given by the mean curvature at that point; this geometric heat flow process is called mean curvature flow. Mean curvature flow and related geometric evolution equations are important tools in mathematics and mathematical physics. A major example is Hamilton's Ricci flow program, which has the aim of settling Thurston's geometrization conjecture, with recent major progress due to Perelman. Another important application of a curvature flow process is the resolution of the famous Penrose conjecture in general relativity by Huisken and Ilmanen. Under mean curvature flow, surfaces usually develop singularities in finite time. This work presents techniques for the study of singularities of mean curvature flow and is largely based on the work of K. Brakke, although more recent developments are incorporated.

* Devoted to the motion of surfaces for which the normal velocity at every point is given by the mean curvature at that point; this geometric heat flow process is called mean curvature flow. * Mean curvature flow and related geometric evolution equations are important tools in mathematics and mathematical physics.

This book explains the notion of Brakke’s mean curvature flow and its existence and regularity theories without assuming familiarity with geometric measure theory. The focus of study is a time-parameterized family of k-dimensional surfaces in the n-dimensional Euclidean space (1 ≤ k in

This monograph considers (singular) surfaces moving by mean curvature, combining tools of geometric measure theory with ``viscosity solution'' techniques. Employing the geometrically natural concept of ``elliptic regularization'', Ilmanen establishes the existence of these surfaces. The ground-breaking work of Brakke, combined with the recently developed ``level-set'' approach, yields surfaces moving by mean curvature that are smooth almost everywhere. The methods developed here should form a foundation for further work in the field. This book is also noteworthy for its especially clear exposition and for an introductory chapter summarizing the key compactness theorems of geometric measure theory.

This book is an introduction to the subject of mean curvature flow of hypersurfaces with special emphasis on the analysis of singularities. This flow occurs in the description of the evolution of numerous physical models where the energy is given by the area of the interfaces. These notes provide a detailed discussion of the classical parametric approach (mainly developed by R. Hamilton and G. Huisken). They are well suited for a course at PhD/PostDoc level and can be useful for any researcher interested in a solid introduction to the technical issues of the field. All the proofs are carefully written, often simplified, and contain several comments. Moreover, the author revisited and organized a large amount of material scattered around in literature in the last 25 years.

With contributions by leading experts in geometric analysis, this volume is documenting the material presented in the John H. Barrett Memorial Lectures held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on May 29 - June 1, 2018. The central topic of the 2018 lectures was mean curvature flow, and the material in this volume covers all recent developments in this vibrant area that combines partial differential equations with differential geometry.

Geometric flows have many applications in physics and geometry. The mean curvature flow occurs in the description of the interface evolution in certain physical models. This is related to the property that such a flow is the gradient flow of the area functional and therefore appears naturally in problems where a surface energy is minimized. The mean curvature flow also has many geometric applications, in analogy with the Ricci flow of metrics on abstract riemannian manifolds. One can use this flow as a tool to obtain classification results for surfaces satisfying certain curvature conditions, as well as to construct minimal surfaces. Geometric flows, obtained from solutions of geometric parabolic equations, can be considered as an alternative tool to prove isoperimetric inequalities. On the other hand, isoperimetric inequalities can help in treating several aspects of convergence of these flows. Isoperimetric inequalities have many applications in other fields of geometry, like hyperbolic manifolds.